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Pit Stop

A few days ago, DC was ready and waiting for his transportation to arrive to bring him to work. I was getting ready for work as well. The car arrived a little bit earlier than usual with a substitute driver. DC left and I went back to getting ready. Normally I leave for work about 5 minutes after the car leaves, but because it arrived early and I was not completely ready, it took another 15 minutes to get out of the door.

My car was parked in the driveway behind the house so you can not see it from the front of the house. I drove out, rounded the corner and headed up the driveway to find his transportation car at the top of the driveway. My initial reaction was one of panic. I was sure that something was wrong, but the driver was just sitting in the car. Then I noticed that DC was already getting out of the car so my next thought was that he decided he had to use the restroom. I got out of my car and asked what was wrong. The driver told me that he had forgotten his water bottle and was so obsessed about it, she felt she HAD to bring him back to get it. She was hoping that I would still be home. Granted, I am happy that he is so aware of his hydrationand so attached to his water bottle. Drinking water was not at the top of his list a few months ago, it was always a battle so I am glad that it has moved up a few rungs on the ladder. Coincidently the one and only time he forgot to bring his water bottle to work since his first seizure (I was at the time convinced it was due to heat), just happened to be the day he had his second seizure – hmmmm. I don’t know if he put that together in his mind or if this is just a straight out ‘regular’ obsession, but he does not want to be without it at work.

Now there have been plenty of times when DC was still in school that he tried to get his school bus drivers to stop so he could run into a random house to use the bathroom. (There have also been times, not so long ago while out for a walk when I had to chase him as he was running up some strangers sidewalk towards the door because he decided that he had to use the restroom). I know how he can be when he forgets something as well. The driver said he kept poking her on her shoulder from the back seat. I get it. But, his school bus drivers, when they knew they had to bring him back home, would always call me to see if I was still home or if I could turn around and come back to meet him. This driver did not try to call and was making no attempt to even get out of the car. I wonder just how, from the driver’s seat with the car running was she going to check to see if I was home? You can not see my car from the front. She did not get out of the car – she just let him out and as I said, under normal circumstances, I would have been gone.

Hopefully in the future someone will call me – yes, I made that clear – very clear.

So how would this particular scenario have played out had I not have been there, you ask? I know exactly how it would have gone.

– DC would have let himself into the house to get his water bottle.

– DC would have left the front door wide open upon exiting the house and returning to the car; prompting the driver to ask if Mom was home. (He never closes the door on the way out, only on the way in – I do not know why.)

– “Yes”, would have been the response – his standard reply to almost any question.

– Driver would have driven away leaving my front door not only unlocked but wide open all day.

– Later that afternoon – assuming all of my possessions were still in the house , his after-work aide would have called to inform me that he found the front door wide open.

– Me, never knowing or hearing about the forgotten water bottle retrieval mission that morning from DC or anyone else, would have assumed that I had forgotten to close the door (even though I distinctly remembered doing it).

Just an FYI – DC is 24. After years and years of training (a topic for another post) he is and has been able to get into the house himself after work. He has either me or staff there but there may be times when someone might be stuck in traffic or late for some other reason and before he had staff, I was always in a race with the bus. I wanted him to be able to get in, lock the door, call me and wait for me or his aide. Since he began having seizures, I do not want him alone for even a few minutes. My point here is – you don’t bring him home with out calling me or letting me know.

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